The Role of the Father

It's interesting to me when something in a familiar story hits you in a new way. That's what happened to me in Genesis 22. It's the story of Abraham taking Isaac to be sacrificed.

Here Abraham is in the role of the father, taking his son to Mt Moria in order to sacrifice him. It's a picture of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God's Son. In fact, it's likely it happened on the same mountain where the temple would be built, perhaps even at the site of the Holy of Holies, where the blood of the sacrificial lamb was sprinkled on the mercy seat.

The little thing that struck me in this picture was verse 9 where it says that "Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar on top of the wood." In this picture, God the Father bound His own Son to the wooden cross. The Father sent Jesus to the cross. Jesus, just like Isaac, went obediently to what would be His certain death.

Isaiah 53:5  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

The Father had to "chastise" Jesus in order to gain peace for us. So next time you think of the cross, think of the Father's hands binding Jesus to it like Abraham did to Isaac, except the Father let it go all the way. It's a powerful picture.

Pastor Tom